Resignations rock May's Brexit plans

Two cabinet members quit to put pressure on UK prime minister

British Prime Minister Theresa May's government was thrown into fresh turmoil on Thursday morning as Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab became the latest minister to resign from her cabinet over her handling of the issue.

On Wednesday evening, May announced that after a lengthy discussion, her cabinet had given its backing to a draft document regarding Britain's exit from the European Union, scheduled to take place at the end of March 2019, which could now be signed by other EU leaders before being presented to Parliament for approval.

But any hopes that this development would lift the pressure on May were swept away first thing the following morning when Raab, who had only been in the position since July following the resignation of his predecessor David Davies, announced he too was leaving his post.

In his resignation letter, Raab said: "I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country." Within an hour of his departure, another Cabinet member, secretary of state for work and pensions, Esther McVey, announced that she was also quitting, saying: "It will be no good trying to pretend to (the British people) that this deal honors the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone that it doesn't."

Commenting on their resignations in the House of Commons, May said: "Delivering Brexit involves difficult choices for all of us. We do not agree on all those choices, but I respect their views."

While the resignations were being announced in Westminster, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders would take place in Brussels on Nov 25, at which May's withdrawal agreement and the framework of future relations between Britain and the EU will be finalized.

The latest developments in the Brexit saga will raise fresh doubts about May's future as prime minister, with her government increasingly bitterly divided over the issue.

May, who campaigned for "Remain" in the June 2016 referendum, took over as prime minister when her predecessor David Cameron stepped down following the vote in favor of leaving the EU and prominent leave supporters including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove did not put themselves forward for the leadership.

May brought Johnson, a vocal Brexit supporter, into her cabinet as foreign secretary, but he resigned earlier this summer over her handling of the issue. Gove remains in the cabinet as secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

May's most prominent critic, who is now viewed by many as the biggest threat to her leadership, is backbench MP Jacob Rees-Mogg. However, he would be a fiercely divisive leader, with some Conservative MPs having already said they would consider leaving the party if he took over.

One backbench MP, Anne Marie Morris, told the BBC she had already submitted a letter to the Conservative MPs' representative group the 1922 Committee hoping to trigger a vote of no confidence in May, but added that she did not believe there was sufficient support in Parliament to bring down the government as all Conservatives would fall into line if it was put to MPs.

In Parliament, Rees-Mogg also asked if he should write to the leader of the 1922 Committee "as what my right honorable friend (May) says and what my right honorable friend does no longer match".

julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily 11/16/2018 page12)